Ski pole seat



April 20, 1965 D. s. J. CHOY 3,179,436

SKI POLE SEAT Filed Aug. 27 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY D. S. J. CHOY SKI POLE SEAT 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 27.1962 6 7 0% 09 3 DJ 2 a m 4 4 9 4 1 f m 4 l 1 W a M g INVENTOR. JAN/5L5: (favor M A/laez/ ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,179,436 SKI POLESEAT Daniel S. J. Choy, 170 E. 77th St, New York, N.Y. Filed Aug. 27,1962, Ser. No. 219,556 7 Claims. (Cl. 280-1137) The present inventionrelates generally to improvements in seat devices and it relates moreparticularly to an improved ski pole seat.

The sport of skiing as it is presently practicedis generallycharacterized by periods of skiing separated by frequent periods ofinactivity in and about the skiing area whether at the ski slopes or intheir vicinity. These periods of inactivity are usually best devoted torest but by reason of the attached ski equipment, that is the skisclamped to the ski boots, the assumption by the skier of any comfortablerest position, even Where the conventional seating facilities areavailable, is at its best adifficult if not impossible problem. Whileremoval of the skis, in some cases, would reduce the problem, suchprocedure presents other drawbacks. Many types of seating arrangementshave been proposed in which the ski pole serves as a seat support butthese have done little toward,

the alleviation of the difiiculty. The ski seats heretofore suggestedare generally awkward arrangements which are difiicult to adjust andswitch between a seat retracted and advanced position, frequentlyinterfere with the use of the ski pole as such and otherwise leave muchto be desired.

It is thus a principal object of the present invention to provide animproved rest device.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved skiersseat.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide an improvedskiers seat employing a ski pole as the support leg therefor. t

A further object of the presentinvention is to provide a ski pole seat,the height of which is easily adjustable and which may be readilyswitched between an advanced sitting position and a retracted positionwhich does not interfere with the full use of the ski pole as such.

Still a further object of the present invention is to provide animproved ski pole seat of the above nature characterized by itssimplicity, ruggedness, versatility, reliability and low cost.

The above and other objects of the present invention will becomeapparent from a reading of the following description taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawing, wherein: p

FIGURE 1 is a front perspective view of a ski pole seat embodying thepresentinvention, the seat element being illustrated by full line in itsadvanced sitting position and in broken line in its retracted position;

FIGURE 2 is an exploded perspective view of the adjustable seatassembly;

FIGURE 3 is a sectional w'ew taken along line 3--3 in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 4 i a front perspective view of another seat assembly illustratedin closed position and mounted on a ski pole and constituting anotherembodiment of the present invention;

FIGURE 5 is a sectional view taken along lines 55 in FIGURES 4 and 6, aseat flap being illustrated in its extended position; 7

FIGURE 6 is a top plan view thereof, the seat flaps being in retractedposition, one of the flaps being illustrated by broken line in anextended position;

FIGURE 7 is a front perspective view of another embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIGURE 8 is a top plan view of the seat assembly thereof, the seat flapsbeing shown by broken line in extended positions;

3,179,436 Patented Apr. 20, 1965 "ice FIGURE 9 is a fragmentary frontelevational view 0 the seat assembly in extended position; and

FIGURE 10 is a front perspective view of the seat mounting sleeve.

- In a sense the present invention contemplates the provision of a skipole seat comprising a ski pole including an elongated shaft carrying asnow pad adjacent its lower end, a coupling member mounted on said shaftand longitudinally adjustable thereon relative to said snow pad, and aseat member pivoted to said coupling member and swingable between aretracted position substantially parallel to said shaft and an extendedposition substantially perpendicular to said shaft.

According to a preferred form of the present ski pole seat, the couplingmember is a sleeve slidable along the ski pole and carrying a radiallyextending screw for releasably locking the sleeve in any selectedposition along the shaft. The seat is in the form of a ring which ishinged to the sleeve or in the alternative comprises a plurality ofcircumferentially arranged arms hinged to the sleeve and swingablebetween upwardly directed positions parallel to the ski pole andradially directed positions. According to another form of the presentski pole seat, the

. ski pole may be formed of upper and lower telescoping shaft sectionsprovided with means for releasably locking these sections in anypreselected longitudinal relationship. The seat member is hinged to thetop of the shaft upper section and advantageously comprises a pluralityof arms swingable between seat defining radially projecting positionsand retracted upwardly directed mating handle definingpositions.

Referring now to the drawings and more particularly to FIGURES 1 to .3thereof which illustrate a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention, the reference numeral 10 generally designates the improvedski pole seat which comprises a ski pole 11 and a collapsible seatassembly 12 adjustably mounted along the length of the ski pole 11.Theski pole 11 is of conventional construction and includes an elongatedshaft 13 formed of a metal or other suitable material and is capped byhandle defining sheath 14 formed of leather or the like in the usualman-' ner. The bottom of the shaft 13 is tapered substantially 'to'apoint and carries a short distance above the top thereof, a snow pad 16of well'known construction including a ring 17 connected to an axialcollar 18 by thongs or bands 19, the collar 18 being suitably attachedto the shaft 13.

The seat assembly 12 includes a collar or sleeve member 20 slidablyregistering with the ski pole shaft 13 and having an enlarged head 21defining a hinge bracket. The head 21 includes an outwardly directedsection 22 provided with laterally spaced end recesses. 23 formedtherein separated by a hinge knuckle defining apertured partition 24.Each of the recesses 23 includes stop defining horizontal and verticalfaces 26 and 27 respectively which are joined by an arcuate corner 28. Aradially extending tapped bore extends through the Wall of the sleeve 20and is engaged by a set screw 29 provided with .finger wing pieces 30.

The seat member 32 is ring shaped and of any desirable configuration andmay be formed of metal or other suitable material. A pairof laterallyspaced hinge knuckle defining apertured ears 33 projects from and isintegrally formed with the seat member 32. The ears 33 embrace thepartition 24 and are locked in assembly therewith by a hinge pin 34engaging the aligned openings in the knuckles 24 and 33. The outer endsurfaces of the ears 33 are curved to mate with the arcuate corner 28and the upper and lower faces thereof match the recess faces 27 and 26,respectively. Thus the seat member is swingable between a retractedupright position parallel to the assembly 12 along the shaft 13 to thedesired position and then tightening the screw 29. When used as a seat,the

ski pole is thrust rearwardly downwardly inclined between the users legsand into the snow to the level of the snow pad 16. n The user whilestraddling the upper section of the shaft 13 swings the seat member 32to its extended position and axially rotates theshaft to bring the seatmember 32 under the users seat so that he may sit and rest on the seatmember 32, assuming a comfortable position with his legs forward. Ofcourse other procedures may be employed in setting up the ski pole seatin the rest position. The ski pole 11 may be used as such merely byswinging the seat member 32 to its retracted position.

In FIGURES 4 to 6 of the drawings there is illustrated anotherembodiment of the present invention differing from that first describedin the structure of the seat assembly 36 which may be employed with theconventional ski pole 11. Specifically, the seat assembly 36 includes anelongated sleeve member 37 slidably engaging the ski pole shaft andreleasably locked thereto at a selected position by means of a set screw38' engaging a tapped bore in the sleeve 37. A rectangular horizontalshelf 39 is integrally formed on the sleeve 37 andis transversely olfsetrelative thereto. The upper section 38 of the sleeve 37 has fiat outerfaces 40 arrangedin quadrature and parallel to the corresponding edgesofthe shelf 3h. Positioned on the top face of the shelf 39 are upstandinghinge knuckle defining apertured posts 41 whichare medially locatedrelative to the axes of the respective sleeve flat faces 40. It shouldbe noted that the top face of the shelf 39 is flat and joins the sleevefaces 4% by arcuate corners 42.

The seat, per se, is defined by a plurality of arms 43 each of which isprovided with a pair of transversely spaced longitudinally projectingmedially located knuckles embracing between them corresponding knuckles4i and hinged thereto by pivot pins 44 registering with aligned openingstherein. Depending from the trailing end of each of the arms 43 adjacentthe knuckle 45 is an abutment or stop member 46 having an inwardlydiverted face which engages the peripheral face of the shelf 39 when thearm is perpendicular to the sleeve 37 to thereby limit the movement ofthe arms 43 between retracted upwardly directed positions in parallelabutment with the sleeve faces 40 and extended positions perpendicularto the axis of the sleeve 27. The top faces 4-7 of the arms 43are-preferably flat to mate with the sleeve faces 4%) and the bottomfaces thereof arecylindrical.

The operation and use of the ski pole seat last described is similar tothat first described.

releasable locking of the shaft sections 50 and 51 in any selectedlongitudinal relationship so as to afford the adjustment of the lengthof the ski pole. The ski pole is pointed and provided with a snow pad asis conventional.

A seat assembly 53 is mounted on the top of the shaft section 51 and isextendable to form a seat and collapsible to form a handle. The seatassembly 53 comprises a cap member 54 engaging the top of the shaftsection 51 and suitably affixed thereto, the top face of the cap 54having a pair of parallel adjacent concave cylindrical grooves 56 formedtherein. Extending across the. grooves 56 intermediate the ends thereofand formed integrally with the cap 54 is an upstanding wall 57 havingparallel bores 53 formed therein coaxial with the surfaces of thegrooves 56. A pair of fiat topped semi-cylindrical arms 59 are providedeach having a pair of laterally spacedinwardly directed circularlyshaped apertured ears 61 embracing a corresponding section of the wall57 and hinged thereto by a pivot pin as engaging a respective bore 58and corresponding aligned openings formed in the ears 61. The arms 59are restricted from swinging to positions below those perpendicular tothe axis of the cap 54 by the engagement of the recesses 63 formedbetween the ears 61 and the confronting end face of the arm 59 with theupper outer edge 64 of a corresponding groove as illustrated in FiGURE9. When the arms 59 are in their upright retracted or collapsed positionthey form a handle 65 as seen in FIGURE 7 of the drawing.

in using the ski pole device last described as a seat, the ski poleis'adjusted to the desired height in the manner earlier set forth. Thepole is then thrust into the snow to the level of the snow pad and thearms extended to 'member and substantially freely swingable between aretracted position substantially parallel to said shaft and an extendedposition substantially perpendicular to said shaft, said seat memberincluding a ring provided with an outwardly directed first hinge knuckleand said sleeve being provided with a second hinge knuckle registeringwith the first hinge knuckle and a hinge pin engaging said first andsecond hinge knuckles;

2. The ski pole seat of claim 1 including a first substantially verticalstop member mounted on said sleeve and limiting the swinging of saidseat member to an upwardly directed position parallel to said shaft anda second substantially horizontal stop member limiting the swinging .ofsaid seat member to a position perpendicular to said shaft.

3. The ski pole seat of claim 1 wherein. said locking means comprises alocking screw engaging a tapped radial bore formed in said sleeve andprovided at its outer end with a finger piece.

4. A ski pole seat comprising a ski'pole including an elongated shaftcarrying a snow pad adjacent its lower end, a sleeve member slidablyengaging said shaft, means releasably locking said sleeve along selectedpositions on said shaft, and a plurality of circumferentially spacedseat defining substantially linear arms hinged to said sleeve andswingable between retracted positions substantially parallel to saidshaft and radially projecting extended positions.

5. The ski pole seat of claim 4 wherein said arms are upwardly directedin their retracted positions and including stop means limiting theswinging of said arms from said retracted positions to said extendedpositions.

6. A ski pole seat comprising a ski pole including relativelylongitudinally adjustable upper and lower telescoping shaft sections andmeans releasably locking said shaft sections in a preselected positionand a snow pad mounted adjacent the bottom of said lower shaft section,a plurality of circumferentially spaced seat defining substantiallylinear arms hinged to the top of said upper shaft section and swingablebetween contracted upwardly directed positions to define a substantiallylinear handle and extended radially directed positions to define a seat.

7. The ski pole seat of claim 6 wherein said arms have 5 cylindricalouter faces and mating inner faces, whereby 2,275,330 when in theircontracted positions said outer faces define 2,834,604 a handleextension of said shaft upper section.

References Cited by the Examiner 5 1,150,548 UNITED STATES PATENTS731,291 6/03 Dulin 248-4552 997,407 7/11 Myers 280--11.39

3/42 Tveten 280-1137 5/58 Osmun 280-1137 FOREIGN PATENTS 8/57 France. 348 Great Britain. 12/54 Switzerland.

A. HARRY LEVY, Primary Examiner.

1. A SKI POLE SEAT COMPRISING A SKI POLE INCLUDING AN ELONGATED SHAFTCARRYING A SNOW PAD ADJACENT ITS LOWER END, A SLEEVE MEMBER SLIDABLYENGAGING SAID SHAFT, MEANS RELEASABLY LOCKING SAID SLEEVE ALONG SELECTEDPOSITIONS ON SAID SHAFT, AND A SEAT MEMBER PIVOTED TO SAID SLEEVE MEMBERAN SUBSTANTIALLY FREELY SWINGABLE BETWEEN A RETRACTED POSITIONSUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL TO SAID SHAFT AND AN EXTENDED POSITIONSUBSTANTIALLY PERPENDICULAR TO SAID SHAFT, SAID SEAT MEMBER INCLUDING ARING PROVIDED WITH AN OUTWARDLY DIRECTED FIRST HINGE KNUCKLE AND SAIDSLEEVE BEING PROVIDED WITH A SECOND HINGE KNUCKLE REGISTERING WITH THEFIRST HINGE KNUCKLE AND A HINGE PIN ENGAGING SAID FIRST AND SECOND HINGEKNUCKLES.